Neku's Reflections
by seasidehearts
Summary: The world ends with you; if you close it to everyone else, it becomes tight and unbearable. But, if you take the chance and open it for someone else, there’s no end to your borders. NekuxShiki one-shot


**So, I beat this game last Saturday and I am completely in love with it. As much as I hate to say it, I truly think it's much better than Kingdom Hearts. The character development is so much deeper as well as the storyline. No matter what, I'll obviously love Kingdom Hearts but TWEWY has taken a very special part in my life now. **

**This begins my many TWEWY fanfics. Hope you like them.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The World Ends With You in any shape or form.**

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The World Ends With You: Neku's Reflections

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Until recently, nothing mattered. Not the world…Not the city…And definitely not the people in it.

All I had was me.

Sometimes I wondered if _that_ even mattered. The music playing through my headphones was my life; my conscious, my thoughts. After a while, I didn't really remember how to respond whenever someone tried to talk to me. I had words, but they were nothing compared to the lyrics that constantly flowed through my head. Why waste my breath?

Eventually no one talked to me at all. Of course that didn't bother me. Screw them. I didn't need them.

Or so I thought.

At first glance, Shiki was the epitome of the reason why I had drawn back from society. Self-absorbed, superficial, and overly perky; almost everything about her pissed me off. I even almost killed her when I was given the opportunity. I was tricked into it by a Reaper, but I almost did it and that's all that mattered. I didn't really like Shiki…but I didn't _hate_ her. If I had managed to erase her, I probably would have felt guilty enough to just _let_ the Noise kill me. And thus, I began to open up again.

Pretty soon we met up with some other players, Rhyme and Beat. Rhyme was alright but Beat seemed like a complete idiot. Rhyme corrected him every other sentence and just the way he talked was idiotic. He sounded like a wannabe gansta and it really wasn't working for him. Another thing that really pissed me off about Shiki was after we had known these two for a total of five minutes, she defended them as if we had been friends with them since birth. Not even just Rhyme and Beat; I had defended quite a few strangers from erasure just because Shiki made it feel _necessary_. It eventually became a second nature for me, although I didn't really let that show.

And then Rhyme got erased.

I hardly knew the girl, but she still had somehow managed to make this impact. A part of me was missing after she got erased and I could feel it. Shiki was close to tears and the fact that I wouldn't show my emotions didn't help her mood at all. Neither did the fact that Beat turned into a complete asshole. He inexplicably joined the Reapers, against us, even though they were the ones that erased Rhyme in the first place. His hypocrisy temporarily reverted me back to the loner personality I had started the game with.

Then Shiki started to become like me. _What_? This girl that I had known to always have a bubbly personality was now silent and unresponsive? It really shook me up. I actually talked more in an effort to get the old version of her back. I figured it had to do with Rhyme and Beat. Beat had taunted and battled with us a few times with his newly acquired powers. Damn him. Even if it was all for a better purpose, he didn't need to do this to us; to Shiki. Not after losing Rhyme. But turns out that wasn't what was really bothering Shiki, although it may have added to it.

To enter the game and have a second chance to get your life back, you have to give up an entry fee; what's most precious to you. Shiki gave up her appearance and turned into a mirror image of her best friend of the real world, Eri. At first she thought it was more of a gift then a sacrifice, but she hadn't realized that it'd really been slowly eating away at her. Her self-esteem was so low that she hated everything that she was and what she had become. I was in the middle of confessing that I liked her the way she was when we were interrupted by reapers.

Then the game was over. I was free. I was so relieved and happy to go back and make my life right. Now, I actually had somewhat of a friend and she meant everything to me. I had just beat death and I'd learned my mistake.

But I guess that wasn't good enough for the composer; the ruler of the game. He decided that only one person would be sent back this round; he chose Shiki.

"I'll wait for you every day by Hachiko. I'll have Mr. Mew so you'll recognize me." She promised, I desperately reaching out for her hand at the last moment as she faded away.

Waking up in scramble crossing again, I had a flashback of my conversation with the guy that met us at the end of the Game. To play the Game again, I had to give up another entry fee. The thing most precious to me…

It was Shiki.

'_Damn it!'_ I was so frustrated I could cry. I hated myself more than ever. Because of me, Shiki was still stuck there when she should have been home. My first entry fee, that I had now earned back, was all of my memories before I had died. When I first woke up in scramble crossing, I didn't know anything. All I remembered was my name. Now that they were back, they didn't even matter. The only memories I needed were that week I had spent with Shiki; the week that I had actually _lived_ even though I was technically dead.

This is where Joshua stepped into my life. Also like Shiki, I didn't want him as my partner; I was forced into the pact when I was being attacked by noise. _Unlike_ Shiki, I completely despised this guy. Hearing his voice almost made me shudder. His high pitched annoying, bitchy, and arrogant voice never _stopped_. Shiki understood when silence was needed. Josh felt the need to fill every gap of silence with an unwanted, smart-aleck comment. Everything I said, he turned into something else and used it to his own advantage. It really pissed the hell out of me. Not to mention that after scanning him a few times, I found out _he_ was the one that killed me. Of course, getting the last piece of memory, I discovered that it was really the Grim Heaper that had shot me. Josh had been trying to protect me. And again, Josh sacrificed himself so we could win the game. Another 'friend' gained and lost from this game.

But of course Meg had another twist for me. Since Josh was alive, that was the reason why I could scan him, my last game had not been valid. I had to do another redo, give up another entry fee, keep Shiki waiting even _longer_. It was beginning to seem hopeless.

Going to Hachiko in hopes of finding another player to make a pact with, seeing as I had luck there the past two times, I quickly realized there was no one. I was the only one in this game. It was me, the reapers, and the noise. Without a partner, the noise were easily going to take me out. The game was rigged. But after having to play it two other times, what else should I have been expecting?

It was Beat that saved my ass. Though it was against the rules, he worked with me to erase all the noise. For this, the reapers took away his powers and as well as noise on his shoulder that I learned was Rhyme. He also was given a six day time period of life. After the sixth day, he'd be erased. So we spent the last days trailing down the new game master until we finally found her hiding out in the Shibuya river, along with the Grim Heaper. Beating the girl, we moved on to find the composer only to find that he had been out for a while and Meg had taken his place. So we beat Meg…and the composer revealed himself.

Joshua.

Freakin' Joshua.

I thought I actually considered him a friend! I thought he somewhat understood me! Only to learn that he'd been doing all of this to me to test this stupid experiment of Meg's. And my memory of Joshua killing me? There was more to it. He _was_ the one that killed me, the son of a bitch. He wasn't even sure I could do it, he just had a hunch so he put me through hell and back just _because_.

…But without him, I wouldn't have met Shiki, Beat, or Rhyme. And I owe him that. I owe him for putting my life back on track. I owe him for _everything_ that I've become.

And I hated it. But I lived with it.

Same streets…Same crowds too. Yeah, Shibuya hasn't changed a bit. But still, I don't think I can forgive you yet. You don't see it, but…those few weeks were very hard for me. Learning to trust people; having that trust broken. Finding out the town I paint is small, and stifling, and empty…wasn't any of those things.

"Let me in! Tell me what you're thinking!"

"Only by letting strangers in can we find new ways to be ourselves."

"I'm scared! Scared of getting a second chance…"

"Listen up, Phones. Cuz I ain't askin' twice. Please, help me. You gotta help me save her!"

"Neku, that's the first time you used my name."  
"But Neku, I thought you couldn't afford to lose. Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world."

"You ain't my partner anymore, man; you're…my friend."

"Once you see the real me…will we still be friends?"

I'm glad I met you guys. You made me…pick up on things, I probably would've just gone on ignoring.

Trust your partner…and I do.

I can't forgive you, but I trust you. You took care of things, right? Otherwise, Shibuya would be gone and my world with it. Hey, did I mention I've got friends now? We're meeting for the first time in a week. See you there?

"Yo!" A deep voice called out over the drone of the crowd.

"Over here!" A high pitched voice added.

Taking a slow look at my surroundings, I found the brother and sister with matching skull caps I had grown to know and …Er, like?

I quickly and carefully made my way through the crowd, gently slapping my hand against Rhyme's outstretched palm once I had reached them. Looking up at her older brother, my eyes widened as it almost looked like he was about to cry.

_What_? I raised an eyebrow at him.

"C'mere, Phones!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him, putting me into a headlock as he roughly dug his fist into my head.

"Hey, cut it out!" I commanded, but with a light laugh rather than a yell. Escaping his grasp, I smiled as I stated, "Nice to see you, too." Then there was a light tap on my back. Seeing Rhyme and Beat's faces light up, I knew exactly who it was.

_Shiki_.

I felt my heart rate increase and I mentally muttered, _Stupid. _Putting on the best smile I could manage, I slowly turned around to face my first ever friend.

She definitely looked different, but it wasn't _bad_; and she was holding her pig…er, cat, just like she promised.

With a broad grin, she announced, "…We did it!" and held out her hand.

We all responded with our own individual shouts as we all high-fived her simultaneously.

"Yeah!"

"_Hells_ yeah!"

"Yay!"

Beat grabbed us all into a wide hug, knocking my headphones off my head and around my neck, as he admitted, "I missed you guys, yo. Life in the RG jus' ain't as excitin' anymore."

Giggling, Shiki answered, "It may not be exciting… but it's definitely not boring."

"That's true," Rhyme gave a thoughtful look towards the city around us before adding, "especially if we keep meeting up like this. Maybe we could go get some lunch together."

Returning his arms at his sides, Beat asked, "Ramen? Let's go!" And with that, he started walking off; Rhyme being pulled along side him.

Blinking, Rhyme stated, "I was talking about another day…but I guess today works too?"

Looking at the pair, Shiki let out another giggle before looking back at me. With a tilt of her head, she reached to my neck, "Oh, Neku. Your headphones."

Reaching up and taking them off my neck, I held them in front of me and asked, "What? These?" I put my hand behind me and opened my fist, letting the headphones drop to the ground. "Forget them."

First looking confused and surprised, Shiki gave a wide smile. Turning around, she quietly stated, "Hey, we'd better get going. Beat and Rhyme are already way ahead of us."

"OK." I answered, walking past her and towards Dogenzaka. Only making it a few steps farther, I quickly realized she wasn't following me. She was still standing in the same spot. Raising an eyebrow, I called out, "Shiki…?"

Eyes widening and blush coming upon her face, she exclaimed, "Oh! Sorry, Neku!" She rushed to my side and we started walking again.

A few minutes of silence passing by, I nervously took her mind in mine, quickly stating, "In case you daze out again, so I don't lose you in the crowd."

"Oh." She nodded, looking off to the side.

But I couldn't help but notice how her hand grasped mine back.

_I don't get people… Never have, never will. _That thought may still be true, but I've figured out that you don't have to _understand_ people to care about them. It's actually what makes life exciting. Never know what's gonna happen next, right? That kinda thing.

The world ends with you; if you close it to everyone else, it becomes tight and unbearable. But, if you take the chance and open it for someone else, there's no end to your borders.


End file.
